Destined
by Eskimo Cai
Summary: Hehe... Little Vaughn and Syd...
1. Chapter One

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Hop. Hop. Hop. Bend over. Pick up stone. Turn around. Hop. Hop. Hop.

Five year old Michael Vaughn watched the young girl from a distance, his curious green eyes hypnotised by her bouncing pigtails as she hopped. She was unaware of his gaze, as the five year old threw the stone again, and continued her game of hopscotch.

Hop. Hop. Hop.

Michael continued watching in a trance, mesmerised by her steady hopping. He stood on the other side of the playground, unaware of the pudgy hand waving in front of his face, trying to get his attention. It was the hopping, and the way her pigtails bounced around her shoulders as she hopped along, that had captured his attention in the first place. He had found himself gazing up at this girl when he had come this way to fetch the football that had gone astray, and was unsure of how long he'd been standing there, just watching her. She was... Pretty.

"Hello? Hello? Mike?" Eric Weiss, his best friend, stood before him, irritably snapping his fingers in front of his face, and snapping Michael out of his momentary trance. "Anyone in there?"

Michael shook his head, trying to rid his mind of all thoughts of her. "Sorry... I just got..."

"Sidetracked? Yeah, well lunch is almost over, so hurry up, we gotta finish the game."

His friend turned, and jogged back to the game. Glancing one last time at her, he reluctantly followed, and joined the game once again...

The bell soon rang, signalling the end of their lunchtime. Around the playground, the sound of feet scraping against gravel was heard, as the children slowly made their way back to their classrooms. Walking aside his friends, he was oblivious to their excited chatter as they talked about what they were doing that afternoon after school. He was preoccupied, as his gaze landed upon the girl again. Although the bell had rung, she was sitting on the concrete, clutching at her knee, whimpering softly. She looked like she was hurt.

He jogged to catch up with his friends again, and told them he'd meet them at class. They barely took any notice of him though, and continued making their way back to the classroom. Michael turned, and made his way towards her. As he neared, she looked up, having heard the scuffle of his shoes on the gravel. Her eyes glistened from the recently shed tears, and her cheeks were tear stained. Curiously, he knelt down beside her, and her whimpering subsided to a quiet sniffle. She looked up at him, her eyes pained, yet questioning his presence.

"Hey," he smiled in an effort to get her to smile. "You okay?"

He received no response however, and she continued gazing at him intently with big, brown, doe-like eyes.

"I'm... I'm Michael. What's your name?"

"Sydney," the girl whispered, her voice barely audible.

"Are you okay, Sydney?"

"I'm... I'm okay. But it hurts." Sydney whimpered softly from the sting as she withdrew her hands that were clutching her grazed knee. "It really, really hurts."

"Come on, Syd," he gestured, standing up and offering a hand to help support her as she stood up. "I'll take you to the nurse's office."

With one hand around her waist, he placed her arm on his shoulder to support her weight. "Can you walk?"

"Yes." She whispered.

And together, they made their way to the nurse's office slowly. As she limped along beside him, Michael couldn't help but grin. She really was pretty.

He helped her up the few stairs of the nurse's office, and waited patiently outside as the school nurse tended to her grazed knee. The walls were thin, and he could hear her sharp gasp as the nurse applied the disinfectant, and her soft whimpers as it began to sting. After a few moments, she limped out again, a Bananas in Pyjamas bandaid on her knee. He helped her down the stairs again, and they stood in an uncomfortable silence outside.

"So..." He begun, looking around, and noting that everyone had gone to class already. "Will you be okay to get back to class? I could walk you there if—"

He stopped mid-sentence, as Sydney leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you." She mumbled in her sweet singsong voice timidly, avoiding his gaze, and instead, focusing on her shoe. "Thank you for everything, but I'll be okay for now."

He smiled, and watched her limp off, before making his own way to class hurriedly, as he was already a few minutes late to class already. Dashing into class, he sighed with relief as he realised the teacher was late too. A moment after he took his seat, the teacher walked in, and the class fell silent almost immediately. A while later though, Eric, who sat beside him, poked him in the ribs.

"What were you doing?"

"Nothing." He smiled.

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Liked it? Hated it? Either way, please review... Please?


	2. Chapter Two

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Her brow was furrowed, and she appeared to be in deep concentration, he just didn't know what over. For the last two days since he'd helped her after the hopscotch incident, he couldn't stop thinking about her. Something about her made him feel lightheaded, unlike anything he's ever felt in the short life he's lived so far. Ever since he'd taken notice of her, he wasn't able to take his eyes off her, it was like some sort of... Connection. It felt like a connection between the two, a connection so strong he couldn't simply ignore... It was strange.

He approached slowly, almost wanting to turn and walk in the opposite direction, but he felt the urge to help her, to see what was wrong.

"Something wrong?"

A tear fell from her eyes, slowly trickling down her cheek and landing silently on the pavement. Sydney didn't speak a word, only steadily kept her gaze on her shoe. Dropping his schoolbag on the pavement, he knelt down and tried again.

"Syd?"

She sniffed, and looked up this time, but spoke no words. He chose not to pressure her though, deciding that maybe she just needed space.

After a minute or two, she spoke. "My shoelaces. I can't..." she whispered, keeping her head down, as if she were ashamed.

"I'll help you..." Michael began, but was cut short when she snapped at him.

"NO!" She begun to stand, but he grabbed her wrist, insisting she stay for a while. She was stubborn though, and didn't give in easily. Looks sure did deceive, because as tiny as she was, as adorably cute as she was with her little plaits and her warm, brown eyes, she managed to pry her wrist away from his grip. And as fast as her tiny legs could carry her, she was off, tearing across the playground in a blur. Stunned at her strength, he stood up from where he was kneeling, and took after her.

It didn't take him long to find her, after all, he was a pro at Hide and Seek. Sydney was behind one of the buildings located near the edge of the school grounds, a place that was well hidden from where the rest of the children were. She seemed oblivious to his presence though, her head buried in her arms as she crouched down against the brick wall. He could hear her faint sobs as he approached, and stood watching her. After a moment though, she spoke in a low whisper, suprising him out of his daydream.

"My mummy... She was... She was teaching me to tie my shoelaces before..." She paused, took a deep breath, and continued, although her voice was a bit shaky. "Before she went to heaven. And she had a special way of tying them. But... But I can't remember anymore. And it's all my fault, it's all my fault. She said... She said she'll keep teaching me until I learn. But she never did. She left me. Left me and daddy all alone. I just... I miss her."

Tears welled up in her saddened eyes, threatening to consume her once again. He looked at her with great sympathy, having experienced what she was going through himself.

"My dad died too."

She looked up in surprise at his blunt words. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I know how it feels to lose someone you love very muchlies." He smiled. "So do you want me to teach you how to tie your shoes?"

Sydney shook her head sadly, and once again avoided his eyes.

"Well... You can have my shoe if you want."

Instantly, her eyes looked up at him in surprise.

"What?"

"They're Velcro." He stuck out his foot to show her. "See? No laces."

"Okay," she giggled in a girlish voice, and pulled off her own shoe, the one that was untied. "Trade?"

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	3. Chapter Three

A/N: Before I forget... Thank you everyone who's reviewed!!!

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"You can be..." She paused for a moment to think. "You can be the princess."

"What?!"

"The princess."

Michael looked at her in horror. The princess? She wanted him to be the princess?

"I'm not going to be the princess! I wanna be the knight... Why don't you be the princess?"

"Because..." She paused again to think of an answer. "Because I wanna be the knight."

"So what am I gonna be? I wanted to be the princess," whined Eric.

"You can be the dragon then," Sydney replied, knowing that he'd be satisfied to be the dragon, even if he never got to be the princess. Eric stopped chewing, his doughnut raised half way to his mouth for another bite, and thought about it.

"Hmm... A girl dragon, or a boy dragon?" He asked as he contemplated being the dragon.

"Um... A boy dragon."

"Hmm... I guess that's better than being a princess."

"Hey!" Michael glared at his friend, who was still stuffing his face with that doughnut. "Why can't I be the dragon and Eric be the princess, Syd?"

"Well, because you're prettier of course." She stated matter-of-factly. "And everyone knows the princess is always pretty... Now come on, I have to save you from this doughnut-eating dragon soon."

The two friends followed behind the small girl, as she led them across the playground. Michael sighed. The things he would do for her. And what made it worse was that she _knew_ that she had a special power over him, and that was why he had to be the princess. For her. And though in the fairy tales, the handsome knight was to save the female princess from the fire-breathing dragon, she still insisted that he was as pretty as a princess was, and that he would do.

"Okay, this'll do." She finally decided on a spot towards the back of the playground, where there were plenty of trees around to provide shade, as well as the eerie forest-ish look of her fairytale. "Mike, you can sit up there, and wait for me to rescue you."

He grudgingly trudged up the small hill and sat down, waiting for his knight to rescue him. He looked up to where Syd and Eric were standing a few metres away.

"A dragon's like... A dinosaur. Only it breathes fire." She explained to Eric, who looked confused.

"Okay." He nodded. "So all I gotta do is walk around and breathe fire?"

"Yep."

"Easy peasy. I can do that." Eric boasted, as he begun to stalk around like what looked like a chicken to Michael. He knew he could've played the dragon so much better than Eric could. At least he wouldn't be eating while being the dragon anyway.

Sydney wandered off, and a moment later, returned with a branch, almost as tall as she was. Swinging her left leg over it, she galloped towards Eric, with another stick held in her hand.

Eric, mouth filled with doughnut, opened his mouth and to roar. Instead a burp came out, startling both Sydney and Michael.

"Um... Sorry."

Meanwhile, Michael took it as his cue to act as a princess. Waving his arms about frantically, he called out to the brave knight to save him. Sydney, who had for a moment forgotten about their little game, sprung back into action and bounded across to rescue Michael on her horse. As she passed Eric the dragon, she prodded him with the stick she held in her hand, and he faked a fall backwards, as if he had been slayed. And as any brave gallant knight would, she rescued the princess.

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"See, I told you you'd be a good princess." Sydney commented after their little game. "Next time, you can be the princess again."

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	4. Chapter Four

A/N: Sorry if I haven't updated in ages! I'm just a bit busy with school and everything, and so I keep forgetting to post it up here... But I'm trying! Just bear with me here... Oh, and one more thing? Thank you to everyone who has reviewed!!! I appreciate it so much, and it just makes my day, teehee... So thank you very muchlies to every single one of you!!! 

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"Are you sure you can manage all three of them, Jack?" Michael's mother looks doubtful as her son and his best friend wait impatiently by her side, eager to get into the house.

"They're nothing I can't handle," Jack Bristow replied, attempting to smile reassuringly.

"And it won't be a problem for you, having them over?"

"No, no problem. I mean, it's only for two hours, right?"

She sighed and looked down at the two eager youngsters fidgeting. "Right. Well, I'll be back at half past three to pick them up, okay?" Smiling at the two boys, she added, "You two be good for Mr Bristow, okay? I want you two to be on your best behaviour."

"Yes, mom."

"Yes, Mrs Vaughn."

"Alright then, I'll see you two in a while." She smiled warmly. "Once again, thank you Jack for looking after them on such short notice."

"You're welcome." He watched as Michael's mother walked towards her car, and ushered the two kids inside. "So... How about you kids go play outside with Sydney? She's in the back." He pointed down the hallway to a large sliding door that led to the backyard.

"Yes, sir." They both replied politely, and quickly made their way outside.

Outside, Sydney sat at a table on the patio, humming quietly to herself while drawing. She looked up at hearing their approaching footsteps. "Michael! Ewic!" she squealed, leaping up to race towards them. "Watcha doing here?"

"Mom had to go somewhere... So she dropped me 'n' Eric off to play with you, Sydney." Michael replied shyly, kicking at a spot on the ground.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Eric spoke up. "Can we play a game?"

"Um, sure. We can play hopscotch... Ooh! Or Michael, you can be the princess again! And—" Sydney talked excitedly.

"Can we play something different?" Michael protested. "Something were I can be a boy? I don't wanna be a princess."

Sydney paused. "Well... We can have a pwetend marrying ceremony! And I can be the priest, and you and Ewic can get married and—"

"Awww... But can't I be the priest?" Spoke Eric. "I don't really wanna marry Mikey."

"Michael, uh... What's your last name again?"

"Vaughn."

"Oh, yeah. Michael Vaughn, do you take Sydney... Wait a minute. What's your last name, Syd?"

"Bwistow. I fink."

"'Kay, 'kay. Lemme start this 'gain. Michael Vaughn, do you take Sydney Bristow to be your law... Law... What's that word 'gains? Law-thingie? Law-thingie wifey? Yeah. That one."

"Um... Yeah, okay."

"You gotta say 'I do!'" Eric whispered loudly to him.

"Really? I do, then."

"Okie dokie, how 'bout you Syd? You wanna too?"

"Ewic! You gotta say 'law-thingie wedded wife!"

"I do? Okay, I do. I mean, do you, Sydney Bristow, take Michael Vaughn to be your law-thingie wifey?"

"I do."

"Haha, COOL!" Eric exclaimed, wide grin plastered across his face. "But wait. We need rings! My mommy and daddy wear rings, I think. They gotta be all shiny with sparkles..."

"But I don't got nothing shiny and sparkly for Sydney..."

"And I don't got nothing shiny and sparkly for Mikey..."

"Well..." Eric thought, pudgy forehead furrowed in thought. "I guess we can draw them. Got any orange textas, Syd?"

"Uh-huh!" She scrambled into the house in search of her orange texta, and a few moments later, emerged with a thick marker in her hand. Handing the texta to her husband Michael, he pulled the lid off and proceeded to draw a ring around her finger, and once he was done, handed the texta to Sydney, and she did the same to his finger.

"You want one too, Eric?" Sydney turned to ask Eric, their priest.

"Yeah, sure. Why not?" And she drew one on Eric's finger too.

"So uh... Is that all in weddings?" Michael asked slowly, fearing for the worst.

"You still gotta kiss your wifey and tell her you love her."

"But—" He started, but Eric shot him the most fierce look a pudgy little boy could, and held the texta out, trying to threaten him.

Michael turned to Sydney, who stared awkwardly at the grass. "I uh..." He mumbled embarrased, and finally muttered quickly, "IloveyouSydney."

And he leaned in to give her a peck on the cheek.


	5. Chapter Five

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Eric smirked. "You like Sydney, don't you?" he asked his best friend one day at school. Michael remained silent. Instead of replying, his grip on the purple crayon tightened, and he pressed harder on the paper as he coloured in the picture of his dinosaur. He'd named it Jimmy the tyrannosaurus rex.

Eric's chubby face broke out in a huge, knowing grin. "You like Sydney! You like Sydney!" He sang, all the while dancing around Michael.

Michael refused to look up at his best friend. 'How did he know?' he thought to himself, tiny forehead wrinkled in concentration as he tried his very best to colour in the lines. After all, he didn't want to ruin Jimmy. It was the bestest one he'd ever drawn, and Jimmy was just... special. He couldn't explain it... Maybe it was the purple crayon? Maybe it was because Jimmy was a dinosaur? Whatever it was, he'd grown attached to Jimmy the tyrannosaurus rex.

"You know," Eric continued, oblivious to the fact that his friend Michael was giving him the silent treatment. "I heard that girls have cooties. And I have a funny feeling that Sydney's a girl... And you know what that means?"

Michael glared at Eric, daring him to continue. "Sydney doesn't have cooties!"

"But she's a girl, isn't she?" Eric paused, a distant look coming across his chubby face. "You're not telling me—"

"Eric! Of course Sydney's a girl."

"And all girls have cooties." Eric replied defiantly. He wasn't going to give up his argument. After all, as Michael's best friend, it was officially his duty to stop him from getting cooties and turning into a girl.

"She doesn't have cooties, okay?!" Michael retorted. Angrily, he slammed down the purple crayon onto the colouring table, snatched up his picture of Jimmy the T-Rex, and stalked off over to the play-doh table, leaving Eric alone at the colouring table with his own version of Jimmy, who wasn't a dinosaur, but a doughnut.

_ i to Sidny,_

_I hop you like the pitcher I drawed fer you._

_I like you Sidny. Not jsut as a frend. I like _

_you more then a frend. I like you like Eric _

_likes donuts. Only mor. Do you like me?_

_Cus i like you lots. Eric says girls hav kootiez._

_And sinz yor a girl, do you hav kootiez? I wuz_

_jst askin. You dont hav to tel me if yoo dunt_

_wanta. But i will steel lik you any ways. Evan_

_if you hav kootiz._

_love Michael /i _

He signed his name, and re-read his note once again. It looked okay to him. He just needed to find out how to spell Sydney right, just to make sure that it would be her who got the letter, and not somebody else. But who could him spell Sydney? Eric? No... Eric couldn't even spell his own name yet... Sydney? No... She'd ask why... Mom!

Michael lept up and ran into the kitchen, where his mother was cooking dinner and humming a tune. Holding his pen and paper in one hand, he used the other to tug at the hem of her shirt eagerly. She looked down at her son.

"Mom, how do you spell Sydney?" he asked with questioning eyes.

"What for?" she raised her eyebrows curiously.

Michael avoided eye contact, like he always did when he lied. "No reason." His mother laughed.

"Is this about Sydney Bristow?"

No reply came.

"Michael...?" she asked in the tone of voice that only meant she suspected him of lying.

"I... It's... I think..." He stammered. "Do girls have cooties, Mom?"

A motherly laughter filled the room. And like all indignant young boys, Michael didn't appreciate it. "Mom!"

"Michael, girls don't have cooties..." she smiled. "Did Eric tell you this?"

He nodded.

She shook her head. "That boy..."

"So Mom? How do you spell Sydney?"

She spelt it out for him, and he printed her name as neatly as he could on the front of the envelope with his beloved purple crayon. Placing the letter and picture in the envelope, he sealed it and shoved it into his pocket.

"You like Sydney, don't you?"

He sighed. Why was it that Moms were always psychics?

"Yes," he managed to whisper, in a hushed voice that was barely audible.

His mom smiled. Her little boy was growing up...

_The next day, after school.._

"Bye Eric! Bye Mikey! I'll see you at school tomorrow!" Sydney said her goodbyes, as she reached down to get her bag. She waved to her friends and set off towards the front of the school in search of her daddy, who came to pick her up from school every afternoon. When she saw him, standing slightly out of place in his tie and suit amongst other parents, she broke out into a run, and as fast as her little legs could carry her, ran and flung herself into her father's arms.

"So how was school?" He asked her, like he did every afternoon, and she'd ramble on, recalling the day's events to her amused father.

"It was lots of fun. We even painted pictures of our families..." She smiled, holding out a brightly coloured picture of what was supposed to look like a family, yet resembled coloured blobs and lines, all scattered carelessly across the page. "See? This is mine. And that's you, and there's me! And this is Mommy... I know that she's gone now... But she's still a part of the family, isn't she Daddy? It just didn't feel like it was right without Mommy. And all the other kids have a Mommy in their picture..."

Jack's face saddened at his daughter's words. Sydney stared back at him, afraid she had done something wrong.

"I... I'm sorry Daddy. I didn't mean to make you sad. Honest." The little girl apologised with sincerity.

His face softened, and he smiled. "It's okay, Sydney. It's not your fault."

So he took her home, and whilst he prepared dinner, she sat crosslegged on the carpet in her room, rummaging through her schoolbag in search of her crayons. Unexpectedly, she came upon an envelope, her name written across the front in a messy scrawl. Careful not to tear the paper inside, she ripped open the envelope.

_Dear Sidny..._

_-----_


	6. Chapter Six

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_First Grade..._

Michael fumbled with his scissors. Time and time again, he'd try it, but nothing ever seemed to work his way. Right handed scissors just didn't go with left hands. But he was determined to make it work. Whether the scissors liked it or not. So holding the pair of child-safe scissors in his right hand, he carefully wriggled the fingers of his left hand into the holes. Then, picking up a sheet of paper in front of him, he carefully began the cutting exercise...

But it didn't work.

Right handed scissors just don't go with left hands.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sweet voice beside him. "Hi."

It was Sydney. "Hi," he answered timidly.

"Need help?" Sydney nodded knowingly towards the paper he clutched.

"Uh, no." He replied quickly. Michael turned back to the paper once again, deciding he'd impress Sydney with his extraordinary talent in cutting along the lines. He'd show the scissors who was boss... And then, Sydney would be _really_ impressed with him, and she'd get him to teach her how to cut like he did. And what's more, maybe the whole_ class_ would be in awe of his spectacular talent, and they'd all admire him, and...

"Here, let me show you..." Sydney laughed, snapping him out of his little daydream. She placed her hand delicately over his left, and slid her own thin fingers into the holes with his. Jolts of electricity bolted through his hand at the feeling of her touch and adrenaline ran through his veins. He gulped.

"Mikey? It's a good idea to look at the paper and not at me, silly."

Oops. He cast her a nervous smile, which she returned, showing the gap in her smile where her tooth had fallen out.

Michael's eyes remained glued on her face in shock. "WHERE'D YOUR TEETH GO?!" he panicked.

The whole class of nearly thirty kids, all six and seven year olds turned to look their way, curious as to what caused the sudden outbreak of shouting. Unlike Sydney though, who was blushing furiously, he was oblivious to the eager, prying eyes of their classmates, still transfixed by the gap in her smile.

"It's nothing... Really." She stammered, embarrassed, and within moments, the rest of the class returned to their work and talking amongst themselves.

Michael was still aghast about the gap. "Sydney! Your tooth! It's... It's... _Gone!_"

"I know," Sydney grinned at his comment. "Daddy says everyone's teeth fall out sooner or later. It's normal."

His jaw remained open as he tried to grasp onto the concept of teeth falling out. Sydney laughed and turned back to the problem at hand; the cutting exercise.

"Come on Mikey. We have to get this done." She advised him. "Concentrate on the lines on the paper, 'kay? And just go with me... We'll be done in no time."

Her hand on his, she helped him cut around the bold outline on the paper that they were to cut on. Michael's gaze however, still remained fixated on her face, at that gap in her dimpled smile. Boy, was he gonna have a hard time getting to sleep tonight...

Meanwhile, Sydney was thinking too, only not about the gap that seemed to haunt her friend Mikey.

---

_Flashback..._

_"Hi Mikey."_

_"Hi Sydney."_

_"So I uh..." she mumbled timidly. "I got your letter."_

_He remained silent, waiting for her to continue. A crimson tinge creeped into his cheeks, and he kept his gaze down to contently stare at his reflection in his shiny black shoes._

_"So um... Jimmy's really cute."_

_"Really?" He asked in disbelief._

_"Really. I kinda like him."_

_"Thanks."_

_"Jimmy's purple."_

_"I know."_

_"How did you know my favourite colour was purple?"_

_He looked up at her face and smiled gently. "You use the purple crayon alot."_

_She grinned, and he looked down again at his shoes. "I... I don't have cooties, Mikey."_

_"Good. I'm glad you don't." He felt relieved._

_"So I... IlikeyoutooMikey," she whispered, and stood on her tiptoes, planting a sweet kiss on his cheek._

_---_

Their eyes met, just as the cutting exercise was completed. Their fingers still remained intertwined, the both of them not wanting to break the contact.

"Eeeeeeeeew! Gross!" Eric shrieked, frantically diving across the table to tear his best friend's hand away from Sydney's. "What are you doing Mike?! You're gonna get cooties!"

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	7. Chapter Seven

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_Second grade…_

The bell rang and out stampeded the second grade, eager to get out to the playground and make the most of their recess while they had the chance. Within moments, fifty seven and eight year olds, give or take a few, all stood together, discussing how they should spend today's recess.

"Hide and seek!" A girl suggested.

"Tag!"

"Hopscotch!"

"Soccer!"

"Catch!"

"Hey," A voice finally spoke up. "What about dodgeball?"

Excited murmurs came from the small crowd. Dodgeball it was then, as they fetched a ball, and the game begun. Screams and shrieks filled the playground, as everyone scattered in various directions, trying to avoid the ball, which was held in Sydney's possession. She grinned evilly. 'This was going to be fun…'

One by one, she aimed the ball at each individual person, and one by one, they yelped in pain, grasped their knee, or wherever she had happened to hit them, and hopped away slowly to sit on the side benches.

'Ten down, forty to go,' she thought to herself, as she caught the ball heading towards her, thus eliminating another one of her peers.

Sydney spun around, scanning the playground full of shrieking kids running around for her next target... And he just happened to be someone by the name of Eric Weiss. She smiled to herself, just as Eric turned to look in her direction, whose eyes widened when he saw her with the ball, looking in HIS direction.

'Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap,' he muttered under his breath to himself. He knew he couldn't outrun someone like Sydney. She was quick on her feet, more than likely one of the fastest runners in their grade. He could never outrun her. He was more… On the plump side, he'd prefer to put it. Pleasantly plump. And pleasantly plump people DO NOT outrun Sydney Bristows. Even little Sydney Bristows, who only measured up to be about up to his shoulders in height.

Eric made a mad dash in the opposite direction. He stumbled slowly, his breathing quickly becoming heavy after only a few metres. Sydney giggled to herself at seeing Eric run. Well, try to anyway…

She took off in a fast pace sprint, quickly, yet effortlessly gaining on a puffing and exhausted Eric, and threw the ball at him.

"Ow," he rubbed his neck, as he too, made his way to sit with the others on the bench that were already 'out'.

"Sorry Eric!" she apologised, before running back to the game in progress.

As Sydney dodged ball after ball without much effort, her other peers were slowly but gradually eliminated and joined the rest. Eventually, she managed to gain possession over the ball once again. The odd dozen or so people still in the game, having witnessed her with the ball previously with the other kids, frantically made a mad dash for it. Sydney Bristow plus dodgeball was not a good combination for the rest of them, one of which, included Mister Michael C. Vaughn, who reigned over last week's dodgeball game, one of which Miss Bristow had not been participating in.

"Ooh… Now this is gonna be exciting…" Eric spoke as commentator in an animated voice.

Michael froze as his eyes met hers. And within a matter of milliseconds, she was racing towards him, ball in hand as she prepared to throw it. But to him, his surroundings paused with him. Everything, everyone, all around him, it was all on pause, all except Sydney. His mind told him to move, to run _now _because Sydney was nearing closer, because Sydney was going to throw the ball at him any moment now, and he'd lose his winning streak of one game to her… But nonetheless, he stood like a loser, unable to move from where he stood.

And now he realises he should've ran. Should've taken the chance when he could of… Because Sydney threw the ball directly at his… _You know…_

Michael doubled over in pain.

"Ooh," Sydney cringed, jogging over to his side. "Are you okay, Mikey? I'm so sorry…"

'Oh crap,' he thought, putting on his best fake reassuring smile, and stood back up again, trying to prove himself to be all macho for Sydney.

He waved her off, making it like it was no big deal. "I'm fine," he grinned again, but she still looked doubtful. "Really," he added, just in case she didn't believe him.

"If you say so…"

He stood and watched her as she jogged back to the game with the ball. He sighed, before remembering he was in great pain, tears welling up in his eyes. 'Sydney could be watching…' he reminded himself. 'Sydney, Sydney, Sydney.'

Waddling back to the benches, he sat down beside Eric, who smiled in sympathy. Michael chose to ignore him though, it didn't hurt… Well, at least not that much anyway… cough cough

Meanwhile, Sydney was still out on the field, chasing after the few people who hadn't yet experienced the dodgeball skills of Sydney Bristow.

---

"YEAH! I WON, I WON!" she shrieked ecstatically, bouncing over to where everyone else sat. She slid onto the bench beside Michael.

"Really?" Michael asked, not surprised in the least. "It was a good game."

"Yeah… It was." Sydney grinned. "You wanna play again tomorrow, Mikey?"

He didn't reply, staring at her in horror.

-----


	8. Chapter Eight

-----

_Third grade..._

"Okay, um... My banana for your um... For your apple." Eric stood by the front school gate with Sydney, trying desperately to trade his lunch for hers, because he didn't _like_ bananas. Bananas were yellow, and yellow foods were girlie, because yellow was a girl's colour, which would in turn make _him_ girlie if he ate it. He sighed. When would his mum ever learn? Bananas were just out of the question. Like, hello? Yellow? Girl's colour? Apples however... Apples were red, and _RED_ was a manly colour, because... Well just because. And you just don't argue against the rules with girl colours and boy colours. It was just the rules, okay?

Sydney grinned at his proposition, shaking her head in a stubborn manner. She crossed her arms across her chest, smiling gleefully. "Nuh uh. Not worth it, Eric."

"But..." Eric began to protest, because he didn't want to be seen eating a yellow girl's fruit at recess. It just wasn't right. "But Sydney..." He whined. "Look at how nice this banana is... All nice and... And... And yellow."

Syd only giggled at the look of desperation on her friend's face. "Mmm..." She pretended to ponder for a bit, just to get his hopes up for a bit and string him along. "Nah."

"Awww, Syd!" He held up the banana as if he were showcasing it. "Look at how yummy it looks... How _yellow_ it is."

"Eric, I don't want your banana. And besides, I kinda like apples." She smiled showing her dimples, as he threw his hands up in defeat.

"Oh, I give up!"

Michael watched the two from a few metres away, approaching them as he walked into the school gates. "Hey Sydney, hey Eric," he greeted them with a sweet smile.

"Hey Mike."

"Hey Mikey."

"So watcha got for lunch, eh buddy?" Eric piped up, invoking an exasperated sigh from Sydney, who was growing tired of the never-ending talk of food from Eric.

"Uhhh... A peanut butter sandwich and an apple, I think. Why, what do you got?"

"A banana! Can you believe my mum packed a banana?" Eric groaned, and continued to whine about his food. "I wish my mum was like yours, Mike... You're lucky she understands why boys don't eat yellow foods. Especially bananas."

Michael looked questioningly at Sydney, who only shrugged, before he turned back to a grumpy Eric who held his banana at an arm's distance away, with only his forefinger and thumb, treating it as if it were a dirty sock.

"Uhhh... Yeah. I guess I am..." He spoke slowly, just as the bell signalling the beginning of school rang loudly through the playground. Around them, children scurried to their classes, eager to begin the day at school.

"C'mon, we better get to class," Sydney turned, and headed towards the direction of their classroom, with both Eric and Michael at her heels, Eric still holding his banana from two fingers.

---

"… and now it's time for show and tell, everyone!" The class of third graders sat up more alertly in their seats when their teacher make the announcement, eagerly awaiting the show and tell presentations for today.

"Hmm… Eric Weiss? You're first on the list for today Eric, and I hope you've brought something more… appropriate than last week's show and tell."

Eric eagerly hopped out of his seat and walked… No, bounced, was more like it, to the front of the classroom, his lunchbox tucked safely beneath his right arm.

"Oh it is, Miss. It is," he spoke, as he rummaged through his lunchbox in search of his object for show and tell. After a few moments, he finally pulled out an object, and placed his lunchbox on the floor beside his feet.

It was yellow. Can you guess what it is?

"This is a banana, everyone," Eric stated obviously, showing it to the class. And once again, he launched into his endless rambling of why boys shouldn't eat bananas that he had started earlier with Sydney, oblivious to the blank expressions of everyone else in the class, except maybe Sydney, who smiled to herself and shook her head.

After about ten minutes or so, with half the class's eyes drooping, and Eric still continuing what had turned into an argument with himself over bananas, the teacher finally politely stopped him.

"Eric, dear, I think we've spent enough time with your show and tell for today…" she spoke softly, with a gentle smile.

"Hmm… Okay. But one more thing before I go?"

"Yes?"

"If anyone's willing to swap my banana for something else… Something not yellow and–"

"Eric, I think that's enough…"

---

"Michael Vaughn?" The teacher called out, as she looked up from her list of names. "Do you have something for show and tell today?"

"Yes, Miss," Michael answered politely, rummaging through his backpack and pulling out a shoebox.

Walking up to the front, he placed the brown shoebox on the teacher's table at the front, and slowly pulled off the lid only a tiny fraction. His small hand disappeared into the box, and pulled something out, and turning around to show the class.

"His name is Tobey, my pet froggie," he stated, holding the frog up for everyone to see.

Tobey the frog was a dirty browny colour, with bits of green here in there, and on his backside, he sported several darker freckle-like spots. He stared at the third grade class with bulging, beady eyes, and every few seconds would let out a small 'croak,' his throat protruding out. His webbed feet twitched slightly in the palm of the young boy's hands, perhaps slightly nervous and the thirty or so pair of curious gazes all set upon him.

"I've had Tobey for a while now, and he was a birthday present from my Aunt Trish…" Michael spoke nervously, gaze remaining fixated on the amphibian in his hands. "I'm not sure what breed he is… But he likes to jump around a lot. Sometimes, I let him out in the backyard to explore for a bit, but my mum says that one day Tobey will jump away when I let him out to explore, so I have to keep an eye on him when he's outside at all times…"

And right on queue, as if he heard what Michael were saying, Tobey the froggie leapt right out of the hands of little Mike, and onto the floor, beady eyes darting around the place in search of a possible way to escape.

Two seconds past, before it finally hit everyone in the room, including the teacher, that there was a frog leaping about in the classroom. Frantically jumping out of their seats, all thirty or so students ran to the back of the classroom, intending to get as far away as possible to the frog, which began to leap across the room. Shrieks and screams were heard, as everyone dashed madly about, leaving a lonesome Michael to catch Tobey on his own.

Michael made a dash for the frog, as it leapt up onto someone's desk in the front row. 'Oh no, no, no, no, no,' he thought to himself, as he lunged forward onto the desk, sending everything on it scattering onto the floor. This isn't how it was meant to be, Tobey wasn't meant to jump away! He hadn't planned for this to happen. Tobey was meant to be a good froggie for the few minutes that he was to spend talking about him for show and tell, and then afterwards, the whole class would applaud, and Sydney would be really impressed with him and Tobey, and everyone would say that his show and tell was better than Eric's banana talk and…

"ARRRRRRRRRRGH!"

A deafening, high-pitched scream drew the attention of everyone in the room, including Michael, to the back of the classroom. It was Sydney. And Tobey was perched on her head. 'Uh oh,' Michael whispered hoarsely.

Running like a knight in shining armour, he fled to her rescue, tackling her to the ground, like er… Like any prince charming would, of course.

"Syd, I'm so sorry," he apologised, getting up off of her. "I… I was just trying to get Tobey."

She smiled weakly, as she got up from the floor and rubbed at her sore neck. "It's okay, Mikey… Really. Thanks… I think."

Michael smiled in return, before turning around just in time to see Tobey the misbehaved frog leaping out the window, to freedom.

Tears in his eyes, he turned around to face a sympathetic Eric, who patted him on the back. "It's okay Mikey… At least you still got that red apple."

-----


	9. Chapter Nine

-----

Fourth grade… 

"Happy birthday to yoooou… You're a hundred and twoooo… You smell like a poooooo… Happy birthday to you!" Sang a rowdy bunch of nine and ten year olds, all of whom were friends of Michael's.

It was his tenth birthday, and he would be turning a whole year older, double digits too. This meant no one could ever call him a little boy ever again, and no one, especially his mum's friends who they often bumped into in the street, could ever pinch his cheeks and squeal, 'Ooh, what a wittle ittle gorgeous munchkin he is!' Ah, this was the life…

He had woken up this morning, with the sun shining, sunlight filtering through the blinds and into room, and his mother leaning against the doorframe of his room, a warm and loving smile on her face. She stood there for quite a while now, admiring her beautiful son as she slept, her heart overwhelmed with her love for him. She beamed proudly as he sat up sleepily, rubbing at his eyes and stretching off the remnants of last night's sleep. She had walked to his side and sat on the edge of his bed, enveloping him in a hug filled with such love that only a mother could give to her child. He had noticed the tears in her eyes, though not realising that they were tears of love for him.

He offered her words of comfort, assuring her that "It's okay Mum… I know I'm a big boy now, but I won't leave home just yet."

She had laughed at his choice of words, and whispered to him a happy tenth birthday, before planting a delicate kiss on his forehead and ruffling his messy bed hair.

---

"Happy birthday, Mikey!" He spun around, recognising the sweet sound of her voice.

Sydney jogged towards him, giving him a friendly hug, before handing him a present wrapped in light blue wrapping paper with a silver ribbon tied around it.

"It's for you," she told him, her gaze focused on the ground in a shy manner.

Michael grinned. "Thanks, Syd."

"You're welcome," she smiled in return, as he set the present on the table behind him, amongst the stack of others that he had received earlier from friends and family.

He turned back to her and smiled shyly, before hearing the sound of Eric's voice quickly approaching.

"Syd! Hey!" Came Eric's enthusiastic call. He walked up to them, waving a wooden bat about.

"Hi Eric," they both greeted him.

Eric turned to Michael, shifting impatiently from one foot to the other, and in his best whiny voice, asked "Can we _puh-lease_ get on with the pinata now? I want candy…" He pouted.

---

"Ooh, ooh, ooh!" Eric bounced ecstatically, waving his arm in the air in an attempt to get attention. "Can I next? Puh-lease?" he whined.

Michael's mother laughed, and gestured to Eric to come forth, so she would be able to place the blindfold on for him. After she had helped him with the blindfold she nudged him gently forward, with his bat in a determined grip. Eric blindly stumbled forward, awkwardly swinging the bat in the area ahead of him. He hit the pinata a few times to his delight, provoking him to swing the bat with more courage, until the pinata was swinging on the rope from side to side, and collided with his head.

"Ow!"

The few kids that weren't chasing one another around the yard giggled, and a pink tinge crept into Eric's chubby cheeks. Embarrassed, he tugged the blindfold covering his eyes and passed it to Sydney, who stood awaiting her turn. After slipping the blindfold on, she took a few steps forward, the bat poised, ready to hit the pinata.

"THWACK!" (A/N: Is thwack a word?) Sydney swung the bat, hitting Michael squarely across the head, sending him stumbling backwards at the force of her hit.

"Oh my god, Mikey, I'm so, so sorry," she hurriedly pulled of the material covering her eyes, before rushing to his side, apologising profoundly.

Almost everyone hastily dashed over to the scene, surrounding the birthday boy, who stood clutching the large bump that had appeared on this forehead. Michael's mother was amongst them, quickly pushing through the crowd of little nine and ten year old children to get to her son. She gathered him in her arms, despite the whiny protests from Michael to quit embarrassing him in front of his friends, and inspected the injury.

"Mum, I'm okay. Really, I'm okay! I'll just get some ice on it, okay? I'll be fine, I won't die on you," he assured her, before she ushered everyone away and led him to the kitchen to get some ice. On his way past Sydney, he smiled softly at her millionth 'I'm so sorry Mikey', trying to convince her that he was fine.

In the kitchen, his mother hands him an ice pack wrapped in a cloth from the fridge, which he holds to his head, as he stares out the glass screen door leading to the backyard. Outside, everyone has resumed their activities without him, and he sees that Eric has managed to get the pinata open by jumping up and tearing it apart with his hands. He laughs to himself as he watches, Sydney giggling at Eric, who is busily scrounging the grass for as much candy as he can get his hands on, the way Sydney's dimples appear on her face as she smiles, the way she kindly declines when Eric offers her some candy from his bulging pocketfuls of sweets.

His attention however, is diverted back to his mum, when she speaks. "Are you sure you're okay, honey?" she asks worriedly.

"I'm fine, mum."

"Is something wrong? You seem awfully quiet…"

"Can I ask you something?" his eyes are avoiding hers, staring at the delicate patterns of their granite bench top instead.

"Mmm?"

"Do wishes really come true?" Michael hesitates in asking her, for fear of sounding childish. "Like when you blow out the candles on your birthday cake. Do they really come true?"

"Sweetie, not all wishes will come true, you know that. It depends on what you wish for. If it's too outrageous, you know that it'll never come true. But I'm sure if you wished for something that was actually possible, chances are it will come true, because you're the birthday boy, remember?"

"Yeah…"

"There's one catch though. You can never tell anyone your wish… Or else it'll never come true."

"Why not, mum?"

She laughs at his inquisitive nature. "I'm not sure… But how about we cut the cake now, and you can make your wish, Michael?"

"Alright!" He grins at his mum, before hoping off the stool to join his friends in the backyard.

---

"Happy birthday to yoooou… You're a hundred and twoooo… You smell like a poooooo… Happy birthday to you!"

Michael's mother laughed at the children's rendition of the traditional happy birthday song. "Now Michael, blow out your candles, sweetie. And remember to make a wish!"

_ I wish that Sydney would like me… Because I like her a lot… _

And with that, he blew out the candles for his tenth birthday, and grinned at the applause from his friends.

"So what'd ya wish for, Mike?" Eric, mouth full of candy asked.

"I can't tell you, Eric… Or else it won't come true," he smiled at his mother.

-----


	10. Chapter Ten

-----

_Fifth grade…_

"There's this new kid at school…"

_It was Monday morning, when Michael walked into the school grounds to be greeted with the sight of an aggravated Sydney._

"His name is Billy…"

_An eleven-year-old Michael crossed the playground with bold steps, curious as to the infuriated look on her normally smiling face, determined to make things right again._

"And he's mean. He was being mean to her, Mum. And I know you said that I shouldn't be like the other guys and get into fights and stuff… But I had to do something…" He spoke softly, lowering his head in order to avoid her gaze. "I'm sorry if I've disappointed you."

Michael's mother diverted her gaze from the road for a second to glance over at her grave son, sitting beside her in the front passenger seat of the car. 'He really is sorry,' she thought to herself.

_"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Michael stepped in and glared at the other boy, who appeared to be picking on Sydney. His Sydney._

_The other boy, the new kid to the school, Billy, returned his glare with a menacing one of his own. He refused to back down however, standing his ground in defence for Sydney, despite the fact that Billy towered over him, and had the ability to beat him up single handedly._

_"None of your business, Mummy's boy," Billy retorted, shoving Michael and causing him to stumble backwards, only further igniting the anger he felt against the bully. _

"Well, what did you do to Billy?" Mrs Vaughn inquired curiously.

Michael nervously glanced up at his mother, fearing her reaction when he confessed what he did to Billy. Deciding that eye contact wasn't the best idea at the moment, he turned to observe the homes and people they drove by, wishing he were anywhere but here right now, telling his Mum all this and getting into more trouble for his actions today.

"I kind of," he mumbled, breath clouding up a small part of the glass as she spoke, nose pressed against the glass. "I kind of punched him in the nose…"

She forced herself not to smile and break her serious composure as she asked, "Just kind of?"

"Okay, I punched him in the nose… No kind of…" He stared down at his lap with guilt, and she could barely contain the faint smile that lingered on her lips. "But he punched me back, Mum!"

He lifted his face up to show her the black eye he had received from Billy, as the car paused at the intersection. "See? It wasn't all me."

Her face resumed its solemnity once again, and raised a hand to delicately trace the outline of his blackened and bruised eye with love.

"I told you, Michael, you shouldn't get involved in these things," she spoke gently, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, Mum," he apologised. "I won't do it again, I promise."

She smiled and nodded. The things he would do for that girl, Sydney Bristow.

Minutes of silence passed, before either of them spoke again. "So how long did the principal say you were suspended for again, Michael?"

_Michael sat on the chairs outside the principal's office, having already been spoken to by the principal, and now waiting for the arrival of his mum to pick him up. Many thoughts ran through his young mind, as he sat nervously in the corridor. _

_What would his mum think of him now? What would his dad think if he had been here? Would he be disappointed? Had he let him down?_

_He slumped against the cold plastic chair, thinking of his suspension from school._

_'You're lucky it's only your first time, Michael, that you're only being suspended, and not completely expelled. We don't tolerate violence here, understood?'_

_He had nodded and answered with a polite 'Yes, sir,' before being led out of the room to sit in the empty corridor and wait for his Mum to come and pick him up._

"Three days," he sighed.

Mrs Vaughn nodded, but didn't speak a word about it. Michael looked up, expecting his mother to comment, but not a word came from her mouth.

"Are you mad at me, Mum?" He asked her doubtfully.

She offered him a small smile, showing him that she was not at all mad. "Michael, two wrongs don't make a right, you know that… But I also know how important Sydney is to you, you've known her for a quite a while. And even if I'm not encouraging you to pick fights with other boys and girls, I think you did the right thing in sticking up for Sydney."

Michael grinned back at his mother, and now knowing she wasn't at all too upset with what he had done, settled back into the front passenger seat of the car, and intently watched the things that went by through the window.

Later that night, at dinner, Mrs Vaughn brought the subject up again. "So why exactly did you do it?" She inquired curiously, as Michael fidgeted in his seat. "I know it was Sydney… But you don't like her still after all this time, do you?"

He paused for a few seconds, deciding whether or not to tell his mother. After all, she would probably laugh at what he said, or at least think he was silly in thinking such a thing, but decided to tell her anyway. After all, she was his mother, she wouldn't ridicule him, would she?

Michael met her gaze across the table, before clearing his throat to explain.

"Do you remember the watch that Dad gave me, Mum? Do you remember what he said?"

She nodded in understanding, gently urging him to continue.

"Well he said you could set your heart by this watch, Mum. And you know what?" He took a bite of his food before continuing, not pausing to wait for what his Mum's guess would be. "It stopped October 1st a few years ago… It was the day I met Sydney, I remember. I remember watching the second hand of the clock moving in the morning, Mum, when I put it on to go to school. But that night, when I went to take it off before I go to bed, like I always do? It'd stopped."

"Michael…" She shook her head in a protest, not wanting to see her son's heart broken later on because of some watch.

"Mum…" He interrupted her. "Dad's never wrong. He wouldn't lie to me. I can set my heart by this watch," He nodded.


End file.
